In a recent judgment in the matter of Hunter v. Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Supreme Court has given a ruling that might have ripple effects on the law profession in the 21st century. Promoting lawyers and law firms through digital media, like blogs and websites is already in mainstream and law firms are spending millions on developing their online presence. However, as the Virginia Supreme Court sees it, things are not alright, and lawyers' blogs and websites come under ethics rules.
The blog accessible through the website of the law firm Hunter & Lipton has been held guilty of breaching ethics rules and not following the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. The blog contains majority of cases with favorable decisions for the law firm. And the bar has charged Hunter with violation of Rule 7.1 of the Virginia Rules, which says that a lawyer shall not make "a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services."
This happened, according to the ruling, because the reporting of cases on the blog was not unbiased and did not conform to full disclosure including reporting both wins and losses. Even though Hunter argued that his blog constituted primarily of political speech and not commercial speech, his arguments were not accepted.
Hunter was also found to have breached Rule 1.6 of the ethics rules, as he used case information without client consent. The bar imposed a public admonition requiring the Hunter to remove the case-specific content for which he did not receive client consent. He is also ordered to post a disclaimer complying with Rule 7.2 on all case related posts. Rule 7.2 includes requirement of posting prominent disclaimers.
His attorney, Rodney A. Smolla said that Hunter also tried getting a review by the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied certiorari. Now he is planning to close the blog and take it off the Internet.
